How to replace belt in Sony CDP-M555ES and if not, easiest/quickest way to digitize 400 CD?

Quadzilla

Quadzilla

Audioholic Intern
Hello everyone,
Just yesterday, my much loved Sony CDP-M555ES stopped working, I think one of the belts is loose or broke. When I turn it on, I can hear a motor turning but the carousel does not turn and eventually the display reads "table error". I noticed I can turn the carousel manually, I wanted to be sure I can still remove all the discs without removing the cover. If it is in fact the belt or belts that are broken, how difficult is that repair job? Roughly how much would it cost if I took it to a shop for the repair? I did find a couple of videos on YouTube, the most informative video was about replacing the belt on a CDP-CX300, I couldn't find any on the M555ES. Any idea if those 2 models work the same? I ask because the video shows how to replace the belts without removing the discs. I'm disabled so while not impossible, removing then putting back 400 CDs is a huge pain in the butt. Where does one buy replacement belts etc. for something like this? I know Sony stopped building these many years ago. I noticed one of these on sale on eBay where the seller wrote it's belts had been replaced two years prior so that gives me hope, unless of course the seller is BS-ing. I suppose I'd have to get another M555ES for use as a spare parts machine? What other Sony CD changers use the same belts? I did notice a couple of M555ES for sale on eBay but I'd really have to hate to replace this unit after all the time I spent loading, programming and entering titles to all the discs, again. I say again because this is my 3rd M555ES. The first one (bought new) lasted about 10 years, the 2nd (bought used) lasted about 6 years and this 3rd one (bought used) is also about 10 years old. Not a bad record considering I used them virtually every day for at least 2 hours a day and 90% of that time in shuffle mode.
Also, if I were to try to convert all these discs to digital format to store on a hard drive, what's the easiest and quickest way to go about that? I'm sure there are plenty of guides online but I figured I'd ask here too.
Thanks in advance for any information you can provide!
Dan G. In CT
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Can't help you with the CD changer repair/access to disc question, but good luck with that!

As far as ripping to a hard drive a program like Exact Audio Copy works quite well, or even Foobar2000, and would recommend ripping to a FLAC file to save space and its metadata capabilities. Unless you plan on using several different drives to shorten the overall time, I'd just do it in batches of 10-20 discs at a time to keep it manageable (I did many more during a time when I had a knee injury). Once ripped be sure to back those files up!
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Yup, there isn't really a fast way to rip all those discs, but once you get familiar with the program it's an easy process. Just a little tedious. I'm with HD. Start doing 'em in batches and you'll get it whittled down. You definitely want to do lossless files like FLAC or the apple equivalent if you're an iPhone person.

If you're set on using a CD player I might try getting the broken belt off and take it to a pc place or something and see if they can find a match. Or contact Sony. You might get lucky. Personally I'd set up for cd ripping and start ripping. It's worth it when you're done. Good luck man.
 
Bucknekked

Bucknekked

Audioholic Samurai
Yup, there isn't really a fast way to rip all those discs, but once you get familiar with the program it's an easy process. Just a little tedious. I'm with HD. Start doing 'em in batches and you'll get it whittled down. You definitely want to do lossless files like FLAC or the apple equivalent if you're an iPhone person.

If you're set on using a CD player I might try getting the broken belt off and take it to a pc place or something and see if they can find a match. Or contact Sony. You might get lucky. Personally I'd set up for cd ripping and start ripping. It's worth it when you're done. Good luck man.
what he said.....
 
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